‘ Tiger King‘ Joe Exotic admitted that he wanted his rival Carol Baskin gone during an exclusive jailhouse interview in the midst of his 21-year murder-for-hire sentence.
The 55-year-old told NBC’s News Channel 8 he is still hoping for a new trial, on a phone from a Florida Panhandle prison.
‘I just wanted her out of my hair and to leave me alone,’ he said about anti big cat owner activist Carole Baskin.
The zookeeper said he has prostate cancer and possibly cancer of the lung as well, and is also pining for a presidential pardon. His alleged mark, Baskin, was not interviewed, but her third and current husband, Howard Baskin, was.
Exotic has accused Baskin of killing her second husband, Don Lewis, and feeding him to her own tigers – accusations he maintained Tuesday in his filmed phone call.
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‘Tiger King’ Joe Exotic gave an exclusive jailhouse interview to a Tampa news station Tuesday in the midst of his 21-year murder-for-hire sentence.
The 55-year-old told NBC’s News Channel 8 he is still hoping for a new trial, on a phone from a Florida Panhandle prison
‘I still think that she is bats**t crazy and that she killed her husband,’ Exotic said of his tiger-loving rival.
‘But me and Carol, me and Carol made money off of each other for years,’ he quickly added.
He of course was referencing the Netflix film that became the guilty pleasure for more than 30 million Americans, where onlookers got a glimpse of the tiger owner’s unconventional life.
It also imparted how multi-millionaire Lewis, who co-owned a Florida wildlife sanctuary with Baskin, vanished without a trace in August 1997 at age 59.
He has never been found, nor has any evidence to suggest he was murdered, but authorities have stated they don’t believe he disappeared on his own.
Shortly after his disappearance, Baskin – his wife at the time and the last known person to see him alive – produced his will and his power of attorney that gave her complete control of his $5 million estate.
Baskin was never charged in relation to Lewis’ August 18, 1997 disappearance, but the case remains open and gained global notoriety following the release of Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness in March 2020.
The series focuses on the long-running feud between the self-proclaimed animal activist Baskin and Exotic, a flamboyant polygamist and then-owner of a private petting zoo in Oklahoma.
The zookeeper said he has prostate cancer and possibly cancer of the lung as well, and is also pining for a presidential pardon
His alleged mark, anti big cat owner activist Carole Baskin , was not interviewed, but her third and current husband, Howard Baskin, was
Amid the heated fallout that later saw Exotic arrested for an alleged hit he took out on Baskin, he repeatedly accused the sanctuary owner of killing Lewis and feeding his body to one of her tigers.
After Lewis was reported missing, deputies found his van abandoned at a nearby airport, where he had allegedly planned to take a trip to Costa Rica.
Police found no signs of a struggle or blood inside – nor did they find proof that Lewis ever left the country.
He was pronounced legally dead in 2002, and the case was put to rest. Baskin, the owner of Big Cat Rescue, was never declared a suspect.
She later married Howard Baskin, both of whom were featured in the popular Netflix series.
She maintains she was misled by producers about what the show would be about, as it framed her and Exotic’s feud with intrigue and flare.
Her husband Howard has thus never done an interview, until News Channel 8 tracked him down Tuesday .
He declined to talk about Exotic but did speak out about his wife’s activism that got her wrapped up with the con in the first place.
Exotic has accused Baskin of killing her second husband, Don Lewis, and feeding him to her own tigers – accusations he maintained Tuesday in his filmed phone call
After Lewis was reported missing, deputies found his van abandoned at a nearby airport, where he had allegedly planned to take a trip to Costa Rica. Police found no signs of a struggle or blood inside — nor did they find proof that Lewis ever left the country
In 2004, Baskin refused to take a polygraph test related to the investigation. She later married Howard Baskin (left)
‘It was just a horrible industry,’ he said or roadside petting zoos like the one Exotic had in Oklahoma.
‘The cubs would be taken away from their mothers at birth, which that’s a torment for any mama.’
He added that he and his wife have now sold the property where they built ‘Big Cat Rescue’ in Florida’s Citrus Park, and have since transferred the animals to another facility.
He also touted the ‘Big Cat Rescue Public Safety Act’ he and his wife are working to pass in Congress, which seeks to shut down all unsanctioned petting zoos.
Exotic – who was sentenced to 22 years in federal prison in 2019 – previously worked with attorney John Michael Phillips to file a motion for a new trial.
On July 15, 2021, a U.S. appeals court ruled the convictions for the two murder attempts were wrongly treated as separate and reduced his sentence by a year.
On Tuesday, Exotic revealed he is not satisfied with that outcome, and seeking an appeal in the entire case.
‘I’m actually appealing my whole case, to overturn my conviction,’ he told News Channel 8 from prison.
Her husband Howard has thus never done an interview, until News Channel 8 tracked him down Tuesday
He declined to talk about Exotic but did speak out about his wife’s activism that got her wrapped up with the con in the first place
On July 15, 2021, a U.S. appeals court ruled the convictions for the two murder attempts were wrongly treated as separate and reduced his sentence by a year. On Tuesday, Exotic revealed he is not satisfied with that outcome, and seeking an appeal in the entire case
Of the past five years, he said, ‘It’s jail, you know,’ while letting out a laugh.
‘It’s been rough, it really has.’
Adding how he has prostate cancer and what he believes is lung cancer, he said he never offered $3,000 friend Allen Glover to have Baskin killed.
Prosecutors proved this during his trial, and that he offered money to an undercover FBI special agent to have Baskin killed.
Exotic continued to deny it all happened , saying Glover made it all up to get back at him.
‘In my trial they showed the undercover video and Joe never offered him anything,’ Exotic said, referring to himself in the third person.
‘Joe just finally asked a question out of the blue, to get him out of my office.
‘Well how much do you charge? And he said $10,000 and if you watch the video that played at my trial, then Joe says, well Joe doesn’t have $10,000.’
Exotic announced his candidacy for president as a Democrat from prison last year.
